The instant invention, Damage Resistant Mailbox Support Structure, relates, generally, to a device to prevent damage to mailboxes and damage to vehicles, persons, or other equipment which may incidently contact a mailbox, in a standard rural roadside application. The present invention relates more particularly to the mountings and support structures for mailboxes, which, in the instant invention, improve upon the prior art in this field allowing the mailbox to move multidirectionally, and, optimally, in any direction within a 360° radius, about the longitudinal axis of the mailbox structure when the mailbox is struck by a person, a vehicle, road equipment, or any other object.
The concept of providing a pivotable mailbox structure, or a support device for a mailbox, which allows the mailbox to move, in some respect, and with some biasing means, to return the mailbox, after contact, to its initial position, is generally known.
Examples of prior art in this field include U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,377, to Brecht, for a Deflectable Mailbox, which uses a type of “bellows” biasing mechanism to support a mailbox and supporting structure. In the Brecht patent, the bellows structure is mounted on top of a support pole or structure, and attached to the under portion of the mailbox assembly; U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,281, to Gould, is for a Swing-Away Mailbox Support. The Gould patent discloses a mailbox mounted upon a rigid pivoting arm which has a biasing means to return the arm to its original position. Gould provides for potential rotation around the vertical axis of the support structure. The disclosure of the Gould patent, however, suggests less effective performance when the mailbox structure is hit at an upward or downward angle; U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,284, to Hassl, discloses a yieldable support structure. In this example of the prior art, again, the yieldable support is of a type wherein the mailbox is mounted on a rigid and pivoting arm, with a biasing means to return the arm to its original position. Again, the disclosure indicates limited effectiveness to prevent damage from angular blows or vertical blows to the mailbox structure; U.S. Pat. No. 3,407,997, to C. M. Wood et al, for a Rotatable Mailbox, like other examples of the prior art, provides for a mount essentially on top of a support structure and allows for rotational movement of the structure itself about a vertical axis, substantially parallel to the support structure; U.S. Pat. No. 5,699,989, to Guthrie, is a patent for a Mailbox Mounting Device and discloses such a device which returns to its original position after side impact. Like other examples of the prior art, the device disclosed in Guthrie allows rotation, about a vertical axis, atop the support structure pole. Guthrie, as well as other examples of prior art, provides a biasing means, in the way of a spring attachment, to provide a return of the mailbox to its original position. It does not, however, appear to provide the advantages of the present invention against angular strikes. Further, Guthrie, like much of the prior art, does not provide a significant horizontal extension between the front of the mailbox and the support structure, which can be critical for avoiding vehicular contact or contact by road maintenance equipment in rural settings; U.S. Pat. No. 2,550,338, to J. B. Dunnigan, is another example of prior art which discloses a support for mailboxes or the like, again, provides a mailbox mounted on a rigid pivotal arm, which is returned to its original position by biasing means. Again, the primary feature appears to be protection of the mailbox when struck substantially horizontally; U.S. Pat. No. 1,273,696, to L. VanHoof, is for an Automatic Mailbox Hanger, which includes a rigid arm supporting the mailbox. The arm extends horizontally from the support structure, but, like other examples of the prior art cited above, provides for rotation around the vertical axis of the support structure; U.S. Pat. No. 2,193,378, to E. Popp, is another disclosure of a pivotal mailbox, which, again, is mounted on top of the support member for the mailbox, with biasing means to allow rotation, returnable to its original position, about the vertical substantially axis of the support structure.
As can be ascertained by close examination, none of the prior art referenced provides the benefit of the current invention, which is for a full range of directional movement upon impact from various angles, after all of which, the mailbox is returned to its original position automatically and without need for lever arms or other moving parts, or biasing means other than that provided inherently in the body of the support structure itself. In the present invention, the return biasing means concurrently provides a 360° range of motion away from impact about a horizontal axis substantially defined by the length dimension of the mailbox structure itself. The present invention also provides for a mailbox which, when installed, provides that the entire portion of the standard mailbox structure is mounted perpendicular to the support structure, and separately forward thereof.
Further features and limitations of the prior art include, in several instances, a rigid rotatable support member, which support member itself is susceptible of damaging vehicles or equipment contacting the mailbox or the support structure. Other limitations include the need for a separate biasing means, apart from the essential support bracket for the mailbox itself, and, very significantly, most of the prior art, without separate rigid rotatable support members, requires that the mailbox be mounted on the bottom of its enclosure structure, to the top of a support member or pole, thus eliminating any significant separation of the mailbox structure from the support pole and further exposing the support pole or member to additional potential damage from vehicles or road maintenance equipment, persons or the like.
Beyond referenced contact by vehicles and road maintenance equipment, particularly in rural area, vandalism, sometimes euphemistically described as “mailbox baseball,” is a severe problem, as well. In such circumstances, vandals may strike the mailbox with rigid objects, from a passing vehicle, or on foot. Often, these blows may be vertically downward, or at least at a substantial downward angle from the horizontal. Accordingly, in order to resist such damage, an appropriate damage resistant mailbox support structure must include a feature to allow the mailbox itself to be moved by contact at angles from above the horizontal, with means to return it to its standard position.
The present invention is directed to, and is an improvement upon, the stated limitations of the prior art. As stated, prior solutions, in the prior art shown, or otherwise, have failed to address the problems solved by the current invention, as they, in general, allow only for lateral/horizontal movement around a vertical axis before returning to an original position. It is necessary for multidirectional movement, in a 360° axis around the horizontal axis of the mailbox structure itself, to be a feature of an optimum mailbox damage prevention support structure, to optimize the reduced damages both to mailboxes and/or contacting vehicles or equipment.